Maine Finds Out, Pt 1
by PAPhilly
Summary: So, I got this idea when an Air Force commercial aired during one of the OUAT episodes, and I decided "Hey, what if OUR world found out what was happening in Storybrooke?" So, I wrote this up real fast. I'll be writing more soon, but in the meantime leave a comment, let me know what you think and all; critiques are much appreciated! Have a good one, youse guys! Philly out! Peace!
1. Chapter 1

_Bangor Air National Guard Base, Bangor, Maine, 8:15am_

"Holy shit." Tech Sergeant Holton muttered, looking at his monitor.

"What's wrong?" Colonel Lisa Sanders demanded, coming over to Holton's station.

"I just got _massive _EMPs coming out of Storybrooke, Maine."

"Where?"

"Some shittown four hours from Boston. Uh, population around five hundred."

"Any nuclear plants nearby?" Lisa asked nervously.

"None."

"How far from here?"

"Fifteen miles."

"Why aren't we down then! The pulse would've reached us in _nanoseconds_!"

"The lights _did _flicker for a few seconds right around that time, but nothing major. Do you think it might have to do with the Arrowhead Project?"

"Shhh! That's classified! No, that's out by Bridgton. Alright, send up a few Humvees just to make sure; get an Apache to cover them just in case." She started walking back to her office.

"Where're you going?"

"I'm gonna alert Augusta."

_Main Street, Storybrooke, Maine, 9:00am_

"Geiger meters are clear, Sergeant Major!" Staff Sergeant Patton Acadia shouted up to the command vehicle, a Bradley fighting vehicle. The wind lightly swept through her wavy blonde hair as she took the readings.

"We ain't done yet, Staff Sergeant." Sergeant Major Basil "Iron Hickory" Apricot replied, driving forward.

The town was quiet, almost too quiet. In the streets, there was barely a soul out as the Bradley drove up, its engine roaring as it came to a stop near the town hall. The line of Humvees, about five, followed in suite, their machine gunners scanning the rooftops for potential targets.

"Keep the engine running." Hickory ordered the driver as he left the vehicle, jumping down from the hull, his steel-toed combat boots hitting the asphalt.

Patton walked forward, being the crew's WMD expert, flashing around her Geiger counter.

"Still clear, Sergeant Major."

"Maybe not." Andre replied, looking down the intersection. What appeared to be a family were hugging each other in joy, two women, a young boy and the apparent father. The father looked up from the hug first, seeing them. The hug broke up rather quickly as they noticed the heavily armed soldiers down the street.

"Who are you?" the father demanded, walking closer.

"133rd Battalion. We picked up an EMP blast right around here," Hickory stamped his boot on the ground, "and thought it might've been nuclear."

The father looked confused, then a bit wary; Hickory could see it in his eyes. "No; we didn't see an explosion or anything."

"Really?" Iron Hickory knew _something _was off.

"Yeah."

"Where is everyone, mister…?"

"David. David Nolan. And what do you mean?"

Patton responded. "Where is everybody? This is a town of five-hundred; it's a beautiful Sunday morning; where's the joggers, the bikers, women with babycoaches, shoppers, people walking dogs?"

"Well, it's pretty early still."

"I grew up in Bath and everyone was up or getting up by seven."

"Well, ma'am, you're in Storybrooke now."

"I'll take this, Staff Sergeant." Hickory insisted, putting his hand up. "Look, our sensors are very sophisticated and always dead-on. If they read an EMP here, there was a damn EMP here. Now, did you see _anything _unusual?"

"No."

"Alright. Staff Sergeant," Patton looked up at the towering man before her, "I'm gonna radio Bangor, tell them that…"

"David!" a voice suddenly called out. A man with curly hair and glasses ran up. "David! There's a town meeting to talk about the… oh, hello."

The man looked in semi-shock at the soldiers before him, running off to the town hall before any more could be said.

"He sure seems in a rush." Hickory noted. "Well, I reckon we oughtta sit in on this 'town meeting' just to make sure. If it's all clear, we'll move out. Staff Sergeant, go throw off your gear."

"Sir?"

"Take off your armor; keep your sidearm. If anything happens, they won't know you're a soldier."

"I'm not sure what it is you want me to…"

"You're gonna sit in on that town meeting for me." His attention quickly turned to his vehicles, leaving Patton as confused as she had been originally. "Let's go! Move these vehicles out of sight! Into the sidestreets, let's move!"

_Town Hall, Storybrooke, Maine, 9:38am_

It had taken about half an hour for everyone to trickle in, but as far as Patton could tell, the whole town had showed up. She had just snuck in the back with some bimbo with red highlights and cutoffs and blended rather neatly with her tanktop and shorts. Nobody seemed to notice she didn't belong, at least.

"Hi." The bimbo suddenly greeted in a whisper as more people poured in. "Who're you? Haven't seen you around."

"Uh, I'm from the other side of town."

"Who were you? In the forest?"

"What?"

"The Enchanted Forest? Who were you?"

This chick was a loon, Patton thought. Might as well go with it. "Rapunzel. I was Rapunzel in the 'enchanted forest.'"

"Really? I was Red."

"Who?"

"Red Riding Hood."

"Oh, I should've guessed." She gestured to the highlights. The crazy bimbo laughed heartily.

Patton's eyes widened a bit as an old lady- octogenarian- walked by with a freaking crossbow.

"Granny," the bimbo pleaded, "Do you really need that?"

"We've got a lawless town, Ruby," the old lady replied, "damn right I need it!"

Lots of people scurried around to their seats, and that took another few minutes. Then, the doors burst open. Everyone jumped up and turned nervously to see a beautiful woman with her hands on her hips, grinning a bit unnervingly as she sized up the people.

"My," she began in a poisonously smooth voice, "what a nice turnout."

She strutted up the aisle that had cleared, towards the front of the room. "No need for a fuss," she continued on, walking still as everyone's gaze followed her, "it's just little old me."

The man from the street stomped up with a determined look on his face. "Regina! Think about what you're doing!"

This "Regina" turned towards him, and shouted "Bug!" before, to Patton's dismay, hurling him across the room with a mere hand motion. The Staff Sergeant blinked a few times; that woman hadn't even touched him!

"Hey!" a short bearded man shouted in rage, rushing Regina. Just like the other man, he was thrown down with a simple hand gesture. At this, the old lady with the crossbow took aim and fired upon the woman. Almost lazily, Regina caught the arrow between her fingers. Again, to Patton's absolute disbelief, the arrow then _caught on fire _as Regina held it between her fingers.

"How sweet." The woman noted, looking at the flaming arrow with a demonic grin. Then, again to the Guardswoman's shock, Regina proceeded to hurl a fireball from her hands at the crowd. Patton was no exception as everyone ducked down in fear as the fireball whooshed around the room. It came back and lit town seal on fire in front of this woman.

"What do you want?!" the crazy bimbo, Ruby, demanded, walking defiantly out into the center aisle.

"Me." a little boy spoke up, and all eyes went to the child. His appearance reminded Patton of her own nephew a bit; she was compelled to just scoop him up in her arms to protect him as he walked towards the human flamethrower. "She wants _ME_!"

He walked right up to her, in a cute little plaid shirt and jeans, with a backpack on like he had just been in school. "I'll come with you, just leave them alone!"

The flamethrower walked towards the boy, and Patton could barely watch as she lifted his chin up, smiled again and said… "That's my boy." She was his mother? Regina put her arm around him and they walked out, and she snapped her fingers as the doors magically shut behind them.

"What the HELL was that all about?" Patton demanded very loudly as all eyes went to _her_.


	2. Chapter 2

_Town Border, Storybrooke, Maine, 10:00am_

"And you're _sure _that's what you saw?" Hickory asked as Patton put her armor back on; using the area behind her Humvee's open door as a makeshift dressing room.

"Positive. She threw a frikkin' fireball around the room. I asked around a bit, some people told me she was the _mayor_."

"Jesus." The Sergeant Major muttered, going back to the Bradley. He grabbed the phone hung to the outer hull of the vehicle as part of the TUSK upgrades and dialed back to Bangor. "Command, this is Duke. We do not have confirmation of radiological contamination; however, we _do _have confirmation of odd activity from local leadership. What kind of odd?" He proceeded to recount Patton's story. "Alright. Copy that, over and out."

"What'd they say, Sergeant Major?" Patton asked as Hickory hung up.

"They're saying stay tight, just in case." He sighed. "Staff Sergeant, I hate to do this to you, but I'm gonna need you to keep playing pretend for us."

"Sir, I don't think that's a good…"

"Acadia," He used her last name. This was serious. "I don't care. We can't just keep sending in new guys; they'll catch on eventually. Besides, you're the only one of us who went to acting school."

"I failed acting school…" Patton muttered to herself.

"Just go do your thing with 'little red riding hood' and report back to me." Evidently he didn't take it seriously, either.

_David Nolan's Apartment, Storybrooke East Side, 10:30am_

"We're gonna be _fine_, Snow." David told his wife, holding her close. "Regina probably doesn't even care anymore."

"Charming, we can't be sure of that, though!" Snow replied, very nervous. "What if she tries to kill Emma, or even Henry!?"

"That's ridiculous! I mean, she doesn't _like _Emma, but that doesn't mean she'll kill her! And Henry's practically her son!"

"But I…" There was a heavy knock at the door.

"Stay here." Charming grabbed his Colt Single Action and went to the door, opening it abruptly, gun aimed.

"Whoa!" Emma raised her hands up, looking in sudden fear at the gun before her.

"Emma!" Snow exclaimed, running to hug her daughter as Charming put the gun aside.

"What's with the revolver?" Emma demanded, wiggling away from the hug.

"Can't be too sure. Did you see what happened at Town Hall?"

"No, I wasn't there."

"You saw the _tanks_ though, right?"

"Yeah. What was with that?"

"I don't know, but it can't be good. Come in." Charming shut the door behind her as they went to the kitchen.

"Now it all makes sense." Snow noted, mixing a pitcher of lemonade.

"What?" Emma asked, sitting down at a counter stool.

"Why you were always so close to me and Da- er, Charming. You weren't just our friend, you're _our daughter_."

"What are we gonna do now?" Emma asked, but Snow didn't listen.

"I mean, you grew up all by yourself, alone out there because of what _she _did. I'm so sorry we couldn't be there for you, but…"

There was another heavy knock at the door. Charming once again took his gun and opened it, to another blonde standing there. He recognized her as one of the soldiers from earlier. She raised her hands in surrender.

"What do you want?" Charming demanded.

"They told me to come here to talk to you."

"Who?"

"That crazy ass chick that thinks she's little red riding hood! Put the gun down, I'm not here to hurt anyone!"

"Get in here before someone sees you."

"Who's that?" Snow and Emma asked at the exact instant, both turning around.

"Imagine me with combat armor and a rifle." Patton quipped.

"Oh, you're one of the soldiers." Snow replied, sizing her up. "Why did you, uh, come to Storybrooke?"

"We got a reading for a massive EMP."

"EM…"

"Electromagnetic pulse. We thought it might've been nuclear, but you're clear."

"So why are you still here then?" Emma asked. Something told her she wasn't lying.

"Because that chick threw a _fireball _at me in that meeting of yours. I asked around to see who people trusted and everyone pointed me here."

"Alright. What do you wanna know, er, what's your name?"

"Staff Sergeant Patton Acadia. And first of all, what the hell was with her?"

"Regina? Well, she's the mayor, and, uh, this is gonna sound crazy, but she's not from here."

"Believable. Where's she from then?"

"Well, actually, none of us are really from _here_." Snow continued on, warily.

"What, like Britain?"

"No, not like Britain. Further."

Patton sighed. "What, am I gonna have to guess it? Sweden?"

"The Enchanted Forest."

"Great, you're crazy too." Patton muttered.

"No! Here, we'll show you…"

Just then, a very desperate radio call surged over Patton's walkie-talkie. "Staff Sergeant! Get down here _now_! We have a situation!"

"Sergeant Major! What the hell is going on?!" She could hear the rhythmic chattering of machine guns, and the lovely sound of the M242 Bushmaster mounted to the command Bradley. Apparently their air-cover Apache was getting involved too, as the thumping of helicopter blades almost drowned out the reply.

"We're under attack! Just come here _fast_!"

"Copy that, I'm on my way!" Patton rushed outside, almost sprinting to the town border.

_Town Border, Storybrooke, Maine, 10:45am_

Training had done Patton good. She had a _killer _figure, but that's not important. What _is _important is that she managed to close the distance between David Nolan's apartment and the skirmish at the town border in two and a half minutes.

"What the hell happened?" she demanded as she arrived. There had definitely been a fight; the Bradley's turret was pointed due west, aimed up, and the soldiers were all scurrying about in defensive positions. Their medic tended to a few wounded men lying beside the Humvees; and the Humvees in question all had their guns pointed in various directions, most west.

"Something attacked us." Hickory replied plainly, phoning command once more. "Command, this is Duke. We have come under attack by a… something at 1043 hours. Describe it? Best I can do is one of those dementors from those shitty magic movies. Yeah! Harry Potter, that's the one! We have two injured, one dead. Should we go to THREATCON Delta? Roger that."

"Are we at Delta?" Patton asked, panting slightly from the run.

"Yes, Staff Sergeant. We're staying put though until Augusta arrives."

"Augusta?"

"Yup. This is going all the way up."

"Am I still playing pretend for them?"

"Yeah, but stay away from anyone that you might think of as a threat, alright? I don't wanna lose anyone else." Hickory replied sadly as he looked at one of the fallen being placed in a body bag.


	3. Chapter 3

_Sheriff's Office, Storybrooke, Maine, 2:00pm_

"Alright, Patton," Emma began, sitting down at her desk, "you're gonna need a bit of help here."

"I figured." The soldier replied.

"So, what're you planning?"

"Right now, watch and observe is my only mission unless noted otherwise."

"So, Ruby-er, _Red_," Apparently Emma Swann was also getting used to the idea, "told me that you told her you were _Rapunzel_, right?"

"Hey! I thought she was crazy! In fact, I _still _do!"

"Maybe you oughtta know about town before you go play secret agent, alright? Just sit tight, and I'll tell you the story." The cop proceeded to do so, at which Patton listened intently.

"So, you're _all _from frikkin Narnia?"

Emma smiled a bit, appreciating the humor. "Get it right, Ms. Acadia; we're from the Enchanted Forest."

"Jesus; this, this is a lot to take in."

"I had a bit of trouble too; still do. You know who I was?"

"Who?"

"Snow White's _daughter_. Right before the Curse went on, my parents sent me to this world. I was only a baby, and I spent twenty-eight _years_ alone, with nobody to guide me. At least you're finding out from this perspective."

Patton sighed. "You know this is going up the chain of command, right? It's already going to Augusta; probably further if this Regina becomes more of a threat."

"Really?" Emma seemed pretty nervous.

"Yeah. Say, what _are _the chances of Regina becoming more of a threat? You've known her a lot longer than I have, and I say 'psychotically dangerous.'"

"Think higher." Emma responded grimly. "She's killed at least three people here; _countless _more in the Enchanted Forest when she was the queen."

"Christ. So, pretty high then?"

"Yeah, and when she gets her magic back, it'll be even worse. Like, _level the town to stop her _worse."

"Trivially easy for us." Patton quipped, thinking to the Bradley parked outside. Reinforcements were on their way; combined they'd be able to, if necessary, obliterate the whole town from some comfy hill a few dozen miles away. Not to mention the naval support they could call in. USS _Thunder Child _was right offshore; the sheer firepower she could dish out would be _overkill _for the place.

"Well, let's try and avoid that. You ever heard of appeal to force?"

"We're _built _on the principle, Sheriff."

"Now seems like a good time to use it."

_Blaine House, Augusta, Maine, 2:15pm_

"Of course you realize, ma'am, that this is _batshit _crazy."Governor LePage noted, looking over the report of the events while chomping on a Cuban cigar.

"Sir," Colonel Lisa Sanders replied, "I know that. But this is a firsthand account from one of the Guardsman I sent up to check it out. Staff Sergeant Patton Acadia. It's real, now how do we handle it?"

"Frankly, I'm not sure." The governor rose from his chair, walking to the window to see the bustling capital below.

"Sir, I sent more units of the 240th Regiment up to reinforce the scout unit we sent up earlier; they should be arriving any minute."

The door burst open, and a young child came running in energetically, sprinting to her father's lap, smiling the whole way. "Daddy! Daddy! Can you come downstairs with me?"

"Oh, sweetie," LePage began to reply, "I'm at a meeting right now."

"But _Sleeping Beauty_'s on!"

LePage sighed, smothering his cigar in an ashtray. "Alright. I'll be down in a few minutes, okay sweetie? I'll protect you from that evil queen, okay?" He tickled her stomach, and she ran back out giggling with glee.

"Colonel, what are the chances of this… Regina, hurting innocent people; like my daughter?" LePage asked, very cautiously.

"The Staff Sergeant asked a local, and she said it was very high."

LePage sighed. "I was afraid you'd say that. I'm quarantining Storybrooke."

_Regina's Mansion, Storybrooke, Maine, 4:25pm_

"Come outside with your hands in the air!" Hickory bellowed into a bullhorn.

Regina came out with a start, wearing the same uncanny smirk Patton had been terrified of earlier.

"Well, well, well." She announced, putting her hands on her hips.

"Put your hands in the air or we'll fire!" Hickory shouted. Appeal to force was an understatement for the situation; they were packing heat in the Bradley, two Humvees and the Apache, all trained on the woman. Patton would have considered it excessive if she hadn't seen firsthand what this lady could do.

"You want me to put my hands up?" Regina demanded in a poisonously smooth voice. "Fine."

At that, she started to raise her arms, but switched to a thrusting motion aimed at the Bradley. Patton and Emma both shut their eyes, waiting for the worst. Hickory, like a brick wall, didn't budge.

Nothing happened.

"What?" Regina muttered, looking at her hands. No magic? She had _just _used it, though!

"So, are you gonna stop with the hand tricks?" Hickory quipped as he marched forward, flexicuffs in hand. "You have the right to remain silent; anything you say or do can and will be used in a court of law…" He finished the warning before shoving the mayor in the backseat of a Humvee.

"Is that Humvee really gonna hold her?" Emma asked.

"Mine took two RPGS, five hundred machine gun rounds, an IED and lost the back left wheel before going down during my tour in Afghanistan. It'll hold her."

"It better."

"So, how did _you_ get here? I mean, you said this town didn't exist for a while after you came… from there." Patton was, despite everything, _still _a bit disbelieving of the whole thing.

"I was a bail bondsman in Boston for a while. On my birthday last year, I got a kid coming over; said he was my son."

"You have a son? Who is he?"

"Sadly, the kid you saw with Regina at the Town Hall meeting the other day. He's, uh, he's her son too."

"What?"

"I gave birth to him in _prison_. They wouldn't let me keep him, so I had to give him up for adoption. She took him."

"Christ, this sounds like the plot from some TV show."

Emma laughed. "You could say that."

They pulled over at the police station, and Regina was brought out, hands flexicuffed behind her back.

"Enjoy your stay." Hickory told her, deadpan, as he locked the jail cell behind her.

"So, now that she's neutralized where should we go next?" Patton asked.

"Keep talking up your friend the sheriff; she knows something, I can feel it."

"Emma! Wait up a second!" Patton called out, chasing her down to her yellow Volkswagon. "Where you headed?"

"Someplace you shouldn't."

Patton smiled. "Sheriff, after Fallujah, I ain't afraid of nothing. I'm coming."

"Your funeral."

_Mr. Gold's Shop, Storybrooke, Maine, 8:00pm_

They had driven across town to what appeared to be a thrift shop. Seemingly waiting for them, Snow and Charming stood on the sidewalk. Charming whispered something to his wife, but neither could make it out as they walked towards them.

"You guys ready?" Emma asked, walking up as her Guardsman wraparound climbed out the passenger side.

"We need to talk." Snow replied abruptly. Emma didn't seem too keen on this

"I… but… I don't… I just… I don't wanna talk."

"But I do." Snow insisted. "Gold can wait; I can't. You're my _daughter_, and," she smiled broadly, "I wanna talk to you. I know that we _have _talked, but we didn't _know_ that we were talking. And we talked about things we probably shouldn't even have talked about; one night stands and the like."

Charming shot her a surprised look, and Patton couldn't help but smile as she stayed back behind the VW, observing.

"One night stands?" he asked.

"Whale."

"_WHALE?_"

"Hey, we were cursed! And that's not here or there. The point is; we didn't know that we were mother and daughter, and now we do. And, so, please, let's talk."

Emma sighed. "Okay, what do you wanna talk about?"

"We're together, _finally_, and I can't help but think you're not happy about it."

"Oh, no, I am. But, see," she sighed again, trying to form what she wanted to say, "Here's the thing: no matter _what _the circumstances, for twenty-eight years I only knew _one _thing; that my parents sent me away."

"We did that," Snow replied, smiling again, "to give you your _best _chance."

"You did it for everyone. Because that's who you are; leaders, heroes, princes and princesses, and that's _great_, and amazing, and wonderful, but it doesn't change the fact that for _my _entire life, I've been alone."

Snow thought on this a moment. "But if we hadn't sent you away, you would've been cursed too."

"But we would've been together." She thought a second. "Which curse is worse?"

Snow looked heartbroken as Emma continued. :Come on, come on, let's just go find Gold."

"Ready?" Patton asked, coming up to the door. Unresponsive, Emma slammed the door open with ferocity.

The Guardsman was ready for a fight. After seeing what Regina did, and the way Emma seemed to be preparing for this "Gold" character, her adrenaline was pumping. She went in, hand on her gun, ready to kill the crap out of something dangerous and gazed upon her foe… an old man pouring a cup of tea.

"Really?" she whispered, but Charming shushed her.

"What can I do for you?" Gold asked, putting the lid back on the tea.

"What you can do is tell us what you did." Emma demanded in a cold voice.

Gold sighed. "I'm sorry, you're gonna have to be more specific."

"You know _damn well _what we're talking about." Charming replied in a very impatient, assertive tone.

"You double crossed Emma, you took your, uh, potion from her." Snow added.

"And did who knows _what _to this town."

"Worst of all, you risked Henry's life." Emma finished, steely-voiced,

"Well, that is _quite _a litany of grievances, isn't it?"

"Maybe I don't need answers; maybe I just need to _punch you in the face_."

Gold laughed. "Really deary?" He moved from behind the counter. "Allow me to answer your questions with some of my own. Did your dear boy Henry survive?"

"Yeah." Emma replied in almost a whisper.

"Is the curse broken?"

Emma didn't respond, she just nodded slightly before looking down.

"And let's see, miss Swan, how long have you been searching for your parents? Looks like you're reunited. Seems like rather a punch in the face. I deserve a _thank-you_."

"Twist my words all you want." Emma replied. "_What _was the purple haze you brought?"

"Y'know, magic." His hand flourished up in exclamation.

"Why?"

"Not telling." He looked off towards Patton. "Who's your little friend?"

"Rapunzel."

"Ha!" Gold smiled. "You should know me, Emma. I've met Rapunzel; _that_ is not Rapunzel. She's much too pretty."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Patton muttered as a huge rumbling sound came like an earthquake. Car alarms sounded as the shop rocked.

"What the hell was that?" Emma demanded, leaning on the counter for support. Charming and Snow walked over to the door to hear a roaring sound. Whatever caused that was alive; and it sounded rather like the thing Patton heard over the radio a few hours ago. Electric transformers spewed sparks all over as papers blew through the abandoned streets.

"_That_," Mr. Gold began, "is my gift to you. _That_ is gonna take care of Regina." Another transformer short-circuited, very close now. There was a loud wailing sound, and Snow and Charming turned towards Gold.

"Emma, come on." Snow ushered.

"We need to go take care of this." Charming added. Gold and Emma stared each other down for another long second.

"We're not done." Emma threatened.

"Oh I know," Gold replied, equally cold, "_you _still owe me a favor."

The four walked outside, Patton looking at Gold one last time before following her partners outside. Just then, what Patton would later congratulate Iron Hickory for being dead-on with the description of "dementor" wailed overhead at close to a hundred miles an hour. In hot pursuit was an AH-64D Block III Apache twin-engine attack helicopter.


	4. Chapter 4

_50ft Over Main Street, Storybrooke, Maine, 8:30pm_

"Duke, this is Valkyrie One; we are tailing unidentified attacker from earlier. Requesting permission to engage?"

"Valkyrie One, you put that son of a bitch in the dirt! Engage!"

"Roger that!" Roy Whitewall slammed the stick forward, in hot pursuit of the monster that had attacked them earlier. "Emberly," he ordered his gunner, "blast that sucker to hell."

"Hot guns!" Emberly Pyre shouted, unleashing sweet 30mm payback from the M230 chain gun mounted under their aircraft.

They were hitting the thing, that's for certain; it staggered in pain from the rounds of white-hot lead impacting it, but it didn't show any visible _damage_. It wasn't dying anytime soon. The strafing run continued, Emberly determined to put this thing down. It had killed soldiers; soldiers _she _was supposed to protect. That's why she was there, for close air support. She had failed once, and didn't intend to again.

"Switch Hydras," Emberly went on, "Locked onto bogey; rockets out!" She launched off two Hydra 70 rockets at the creature they were tailing. They were unguided, yes, but the distance was practically point blank, so their disadvantage was largely diminished.

The creature writhed in utter _agony _as the M156 white phosphorous warheads detonated on its back, engulfing it in flame. The cloak dragging from its almost skeletal body ignited, and the flying _thing _tumbled down to Earth, wailing as the Apache streaked overhead.

"Duke, this is Valkyrie One; Splash One; repeat, Splash One!"

_Main Street, Storybrooke, Maine, 8:34pm_

"Wow." That was the only word Emma managed to summon from the dogfight she had just witnessed. The Apache arced around the fallen creature, aiming its spotlight onto the corpse.

"Ho-lee _shit_." Charming muttered as they ran towards it.

It looked dead; it certainly wasn't moving. Yet, to the surprise and _terror _of everyone, the beast burst back up, rearing up over them, shrieking before flying off towards the sheriff's office, staying low in the streets as to avoid another confrontation with its hovering adversary above.

"Where's it going?" Patton asked, griping her Beretta with both hands.

"The sheriff's office." Emma replied. "Oh my God."

"What?"

"It's gonna kill Regina."

"So?" Patton didn't care. "She's _evil_. You _literally _included that in her job description. The _EVIL _Queen. Why would you wanna save her?"

"Because _nobody_ deserves to die like that." Emma replied, rushing past her.

_Sheriff's Office, Storybrooke, Maine, 8:40pm_

"Hello?" Regina asked. She heard an odd wailing sound coming towards her. Descending upon her like the harbinger of death it was, a creature she recognized as a Wraith swatted the heavy cell door off of its hinges.

The Wraith's decaying, hideous hand reached towards her, and Regina stood in fear as it started to suck the life out of her. Her whole body writhed in immense pain as what little soul she had left was sucked out of her by this red-eyed monster.

"_Hey_!" Charming shouted, throwing a desk chair at the Wraith. This had little effect; the beast merely knocked it aside as Emma and Snow dove for cover. Charming tried to jab at it with his clenched fist, but again the Wraith deflected him. He was thrown clear across the room as the beast growled. The creature resumed sucking Regina's life force from her as if nothing had happened.

By this point, Snow and Emma were scrounging around the office for anything they could use to fight back, but Patton wasn't having any of it. She took careful aim with her Beretta, sending off five rounds at the beast. Easily she could have switched to her M16, but she didn't want to waste its ammunition; plus the Beretta was much more easily reached.

"Eat lead!" she screamed as she fired off the whole clip. The Wraith was visibly pained by this, breaking off from Regina once more and looking at the two-dozen half-inch holes Patton had given it. It turned to attack her while she reloaded, but by that point Snow was ready to attack.

"Hey! Over here!" she shouted, raising a can of hairspray and a lighter. She unleashed a jet of fire at the Wraith, sending it reeling back in agony. Another burst of flame sent it away out the window. The loud rattling sound of machine guns and the thumping of rotor blades, followed by more wailing indicated that the Wraith had forgotten the Apache was still on alert nearby.

Regina was on the floor, coughing and panting from the experience, trying to recover as Emma ran up to her. "What the hell was that thing?"

"A Wraith." Regina panted out as Emma helped her to her feet. "A soul-sucker."

"Did we…?"

"Kill it? No. It's regenerating." They were taken aback. "It'll be back. It doesn't stop until it devours its prey. _Me._"

"So how _do _we kill it?" Emma demanded.

"There's no way. You can't kill something that's already dead."

"That could be a problem." Patton muttered.

"It's not _our _problem." Charming replied, thinking. "It's Regina's."

"What?" Regina seemed suddenly alarmed.

"You're just gonna let her die?" Emma demanded.

"Why not? Then it goes away; then we're _safe_."

"That's quite the example you're daughter there." Regina retorted viciously.

"_No_. You don't get to judge us!" Charming fumed, towering over her.

"Let me ask you something; where do you think that thing came from? _Gold_."

Emma looked at her father wide-eyed. "I made a promise to Henry. She's not dying."

"If it can't be killed," Snow contemplated, "what do you suggest?"

The reply was abrupt. "Send it somewhere it can't hurt anyone. Come on, I have an idea."

They walked out of the police station, Regina leading. Patton stayed behind, walking beside Emma.

"You realize this is a really, really, _really _bad idea, right?"

"How so?" Emma asked back.

"You know what happened to Bill Clinton, right? He had _three _chances to take out bin Laden, years before 9/11. He turned down all of them. I'm not here to judge the morality behind that, but I see that _here_. Your Regina is Clinton's Osama, and it's the _same thing_. You're letting her go, and it's gonna come back and blow up in your faces; maybe _mine _too now!"

"I made a promise."

"To who? A nine year old? He won't even remember tomorrow! Just let me put a bullet in her head from here and this can all go away!"

Emma considered this, sighing. Regina had tried to kill her parents, _her_, and probably wouldn't have second thoughts on killing Henry if it benefited her. "Fine. Just, let her take that Wraith away first, alright? You kill her in cold blood if you want; but that Wraith's still dangerous."

_Regina's Mansion, Storybrooke, Maine, 9:00pm_

It was… a basket. Regina's grand plan for getting rid of the Grim Reaper was a leather basket laid on her dining room table.

The evil queen removed the lid from the bin, but looked over at Emma for a second. "Did Henry really ask you to protect me?"

"Yes." Emma replied abruptly. Regina looked like she was about to say something, but just smiled, reaching into the basket and removing the device that was going to save them all.

Now, being a soldier, Patton was expecting something like a landmine, or maybe some _Ghostbusters _style vacuum. Given the situation, she wouldn't have been really surprised by anything.

Except what was actually in the basket. A top hat. Emma looked at it in awe, but Patton found it simply stupid.

"That's bullshit." She blurted out without even thinking. Regina shot her a poisonous look.

"I'm sorry, who are you again?" the queen demanded.

"I'm the only person standing between you and a couple hundred artillery shells." Patton shot back coldly. Regina glared at her.

Snow and Charming came in with three brooms.

"Torches, for when it comes back." Charming announced, handing them out. "I know it's old fashioned, but so am I."

"So," Snow asked, gesturing to the top hat. "How does it work?"

_Town Hall, Storybrooke, Maine, 9:15pm_

"It'll open a portal to our world." Regina informed, placing the hat on the ground.

"_Your _world." Patton muttered again, and Regina once again shot her a look that would kill her if it could.

"Look miss Marines, if you have such a problem with me why are you here?"

"_National Guard_, and the reason I'm here is _because _we have a problem with assholes that throw fire at innocent people."

Once again turned back, Regina just continued explaining. "All we have to do is send the Wraith in there."

"Oh yeah. _Just _that." Charming replied sarcastically.

"I thought our land was gone." Snow asked.

"It is." Regina responded. "By sending it to a place which no longer _exists_, then that's banishing it to oblivion."

The doors rattled and lights flickered as the Wraith inevitably came back. Charming, Snow and Emma all had their lit broomsticks ready to fight, but they wouldn't last long. Patton changed the clip in her Beretta, prepared for the worst.

"Regina…" Emma warned.

"I'm trying." Regina replied, continuing to work. The Wraith wailed again, bursting open the doors and blowing out their torches with the wind. Then, it came.

Charming rushed at it, torch in hand, swatting at it whilst evading the Wraith's clawing hands. Snow covered the railing in vodka, which Charming immediately lit up. Patton just shot at the thing, trying to stall it as long as possible.

"It's not working!" Regina stammered as she tried to do God knows what to the hat.

"Now would be the time!" Charming shouted, stabbing at the beast.

Emma grabbed Regina's shoulder, and the hat started spinning wildly, a purplish vortex emerging from it.

"Holy _shit_." Patton muttered as the portal opened up. That was all it took as the Wraith swatted her and Charming away in one fell swoop, making a beeline for Regina. In the brief fight, Charming was swung into the left wall, while Patton got swatted right down the portal, screaming as she fell.

Emma shoved the queen out of the way of the Wraith, which was immediately sucked down into the vortex. Its last act was to grab onto Emma's ankle and drag her down with it.

"_NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!_" Snow shouted as her daughter was sucked down the hole. "I'm not losing her again!"

She dove in right after Emma, at which Charming shouted "Neither am I!" before he too dove in. Unexpectedly, the portal closed up as he was about to dive in, and he almost comically bellyflopped onto the floor.

He rose to his feet, feeling at the floor; hoping, _praying _there was still a chance he would see them again. The prince grabbed the hat and sniffled a bit.

"_Where are they?_" he demanded fiercely.

"I have no idea." Regina replied, looking him in the eye.

"Are they dead?"

"The curse; it destroyed all the lands."

"_ARE THEY DEAD?_" the prince bellowed.

"I don't know!"

"I should have killed you myself."

"Well then what's stopping you?" Regina retorted viciously, shoving him back against the wall. Rather suddenly, a bunch of vines burst out of the wall, holding Charming hostage.

"You think you're some heroic prince?" Regina monologue as the vines strangled Charming. "_Please_. You're nothing but the son of a shepherd."

"Hey!" a burly voice shouted, drawing Regina's attention. The evil queen turned towards her, finding herself at the business end of an M4A1 carbine. It was the Sergeant Major. "Let him go."

"You won't." Regina taunted, staring Hickory down. "No, you're not going to shoot me. You're gonna put that gun down and call in your buddies to do the dirty work _for _you. I'm good at reading people, old man."

"Don't quit your day job." Hickory fumed.

"Mom?" a little voice asked. It was the kid from earlier; Henry. He was standing in front of the crazy chick claiming to be little red riding hood.

Charming still pinned to the wall by the overgrowth, Regina asked unnervingly sweetly "Henry, what are you doing here?"

"What are you doing?" he demanded, tearing up.

"It's okay." She walked towards him to hug him. "You're safe now."

Charming fell from the wall as the vines retreated, panting on the ground. Red ran up to him to help him up while Hickory kept her crosshairs firmly on Regina.

"Where's my mom? Where's…?"

"They're gone." Regina interrupted. "They fell through a portal; they're…" She sighed. "Henry, I am sorry."

"No you're not." Henry retorted, seeing through her lies. "You're the evil queen. I don't want to see you again." He was crying now.

"Don't say that." Regina replied softly. "I love you."

"Then _prove it_! Get Emma and Mary Margaret back! And until then, leave me, leave _everyone_ alone."

"Where will you go?"

"With me." Charming replied, still breathing heavily as he recovered. He walked over to Henry and walked out with his hand on the boy's shoulder. Red followed. Hickory kept his carbine trained on the queen as she too left the room.

_Aurora's Palace, the Enchanted Forest, 9:10pm_

"We should leave this place," Mulan began, walking towards Aurora as she cried over her fallen husband, "it's not safe here."

"But the Wraith is gone." Aurora protested, standing up.

"There's more. You need to know everything." She sighed. "Much has changed in our lands since you've been asleep."

"It was less than a year!"

"In a manner of speaking." Mulan contemplated. "You see, as you slept, and Philip and I searched for you, something worse happened."

"What?"

"Are you familiar with Regina, the queen?"

"Yes."

"She cast a curse on this land, a terrible, terrible curse. It ripped everyone away to another world."

"But _we're _still here."

"This corner of the land was untouched," Mulan noted, adding "no one knows why. But something saved us; and for twenty-eight _years_ we were frozen. And then, time started again. The terrible curse's power was weakened. Philip and I were able to resume our search; we found you. But the land is ravaged with dangers more fearsome than you can imagine." She thought for a moment. "For those of us who remain, we found a safe haven. We must go there now."

A wind howled through, and the two women rushed to where a big pile of debris had suddenly appeared.

"Something's in there." Mulan said, drawing her sword.

"What did it bring?" Mulan didn't answer Aurora's question as she turned over the rubble. "What is it? What do you see?"

"Mulan, what is that?"

"_That_, that is what brought the Wraith here. _That _is what killed our prince." Looking down, there were three unconscious women laying in the rubble, slowly waking up.


	5. Chapter 5

_Town Border, Storybrooke, Maine, 8:30am_

Grumpy finished spraypainting the line, then looked up. "This, gentlemen," he began, "is our mission. The great barrier of our existence. Does it remain? We must investigate _the line_." He shook the can for emphasis. "I made straws. Short one crosses; draw."

Happy drew first. "With the curse broken, we _can _cross, right? Should be no problem, yeah?"

Sleepy took second. "With magic back, it could be even _worse _now."

"Like vaporize us." Doc added as he picked.

"Let's go home." Bashful suggested, well, bashfully.

"_Guys_!" Grumpy shouted. "We are the royal guard! Dwarves loyal to Snow White! This is our chance to prove ourselves to the prince. We _must_ do this. Show your hands."

It was Sneezy. Poor guy sneezed twice as Grumpy broke the news. "You're up, Snotty."

Grumpy brought him forward, right to the orange paint line, ready to make him walk across.

"_Stop!_" a loud voice shouted, over the roaring of a Cummins VTA-903T eight-cylinder diesel engine. A long line of Bradley fighting vehicles drove forward, followed by Humvees and armoured personnel carriers. Blackhawk helicopters patrolled overhead as the line was established.

"What are you doing?" Grumpy demanded. The soldier's boots stopped right at the orange line.

"This town is under military quarantine by orders of Governor LePage." The soldier replied abruptly. The APCs were disgorging soldiers now, and they were running all around, setting up a line around the perimeter of town.

"What? Why?" Doc asked suddenly as a murmur went through their group.

"Sir, please return to town right now." The soldier ignored.

"No!" Grumpy retorted. "Why are you quarantining us?"

"Sir, return to town." The soldier repeated, more forcefully, standing up to Grumpy.

"Why don't you tell us…?" He didn't get to finish, because the soldier shoved him back.

"_Return to town_." The soldier enforced as three more joined him.

"Fine." Grumpy replied, getting to his feet. "Fine; we'll go to town. But you can't keep us in here forever, soldier boy!"

_Main Street, Storybrooke, Maine, 8:30am_

The town was, frankly, totaled. Cars were flipped, power lines were down and there was a line of smoking craters on Main Street where some of the Apache's rockets had missed their target the night before. A towtruck barely managed to maneuver around the rubble, although Hickory's Bradley cleared it with ease.

He drove right up to Town Hall, where a half-assed refugee effort had begun. A "missing persons" board was set up outside, and little red riding hood was apparently in charge of the whole thing.

"If you are looking for a family member come to the front table!" She ordered as she distributed blankets to the people. "If you need counseling, Mr. Hopper has a signup sheet. If the Wraith damaged your house, there are cots at the school."

"This is getting out of hand," Mother Superior noted, taking a few blankets.

"You think?" Hickory quipped, dismounting his vehicle. He breathed heavily as he walked towards them. "This is a piece of shit. We did better in Iraq with half of this."

Red looked offended. "Well then _be my guest_. Take over, general! Do your best!"

"With pleasure." he replied, brushing past Red, already barking orders. "Alright, move that fire engine back down the street! Plug it into the hydrant; we're gonna need the water! First Sergeant, call in the Medevac vehicle, there's a lot of injured people here!"

"He sure seems to know what he's doing." Superior noted, smiling as the Sergeant Major did in two minutes what Red had spent the better part of an hour trying to accomplish.

"You! Yeah you!" Hickory pointed to a man rushing inside from his pickup truck. "Go fill up those barrels in your flatbed with gasoline; we're gonna need it for the generators!"

Charming came running up suddenly, asking "Have you seen Blue? Mother Superior?"

"No, but _everyone's _looking for you!" Henry replied.

"Do we know where Rump-er, Mr. Gold, is?" Red asked.

"Wait, does the Queen still have powers?"

"I thought I would find my boy! Are the lists complete?" an old man announced very upset.

"They've gotta be planning something!" Henry continued as Charming walked forward.

"Hey let me ask you something; are nuns still nuns, or can they, you know, _date_?"

"Hold it! Hold on a minute!" Hickory bellowed. "One at a time! We're not tracking a Mr. Gold, we don't know if she still has powers, the lists are coming together now and I'm not even gonna _answer _that last one! Now everyone _calmdown_!"

"Blue!" Charming went up to Mother Superior. "Could there be a tree on _this _side? The way we sent Emma through as a baby; maybe I could go after them that way."

"It's possible," Blue replied, sighing, "but without fairy dust to guide us, no, it's hopeless."

Henry spoke up. "You'll find another way. In the book, things always look worse right before there's good news!"

"_TERRIBLE NEWS!_" Grumpy shouted, running forward with the rest of the dwarves. "Terrible news! The military's blockading the town!"

"What?" Charming demanded.

"They came in with tanks and bazookas; shoved us back!"

Everyone started shouting amongst themselves, confused and panicked and just really afraid. It was dissolving into chaos before Hickory fired a single shot from his Colt .45 into the air.

"Now everyone listen to me and listen real good!" he bellowed. "CALM! DOWN! _Nothing_ is going to get solved if we fall into chaos like this! Now, I'm taking Mr. Nolan here with me; we'll be back in two hours with a plan of action! Until then, just stay calm, First Sergeant Reilly is in charge!"

_David Nolan's Apartment, Storybrooke, Maine, 9:00am_

"People of Storybrooke, I know we're trapped again, and things look bleak, but they're not." Charming put his hands on his head in frustration.

"May I just say, sir," Hickory began, "with the full backing of my authority as a Sergeant Major in the National Guard of the United States, that sucked balls."

"I know." Charming replied, exasperated. "Back home I did the fighting; _Snow _did the talking."

"So you weren't making that up then?"

"What?"

"The fairy tale bullshit."

"No, we weren't making that up. Didn't we make that kind of clear?"

"The sane part of my brain was still hoping you were nuts."

Charming smiled, walking over to the table. From a knapsack he withdrew the tattered top hat that represented the last thing he had in connection with Snow, Emma and to a much lesser extent Patton.

"What's that?" Hickory asked.

Charming sighed. "Regina used it to open up a portal back to the Enchanted Forest. Problem is, the Enchanted Forest doesn't exist anymore, so when they went through, they went to… nothing."

"Can I see that?" Henry asked. Charming smoothly slid it over to his grandson. "I think I know what this is!" he replied excitedly.

"What?"

In reply, Henry withdrew a big book of fairy tales from his backpack. "It's the Madhatter's hat! It's a portal between worlds."

"Madhatter?"

"You've heard of him?"

"No. Er, I mean, _yes_. I mean, _I _don't know him, but David had memories of reading "Alice in Wonderland" in school." He sighed. "I need to get it to work again. Who is he? I mean, is he here?"

"You realize your placing the entirety of your trust in a nine year old, right?" Hickory joked.

"Hey! He hasn't steered us wrong so far, okay? I know you don't know him like I do, but _you don't know him like I do_. Alright?"

Hickory just shrugged.

"I don't know." Henry replied, answering Charming's earlier question. "Maybe he'll check in at the crisis center. You could check after the thing."

"What thing?"

"The meeting. Where you tell us all your plan; remember, the speech you were doing?"

Charming grabbed the tattered hat and then his coat. "Right." He walked out, followed by Hickory. "I'll be back for that."

"Gramps, come on!" Henry protested, following them out. "You've gotta use me! The curse was broken because of _me_! Let me help!" His grandfather was already going outside. "Or not."

_Mr. Gold's Shop, Storybrooke, Maine, 10:00am_

Charming and Hickory burst into the shop, a ringing bell heralding their arrival.

"It appears when I bought that closed sign I was just throwing my money away." Gold noted, turning to face them.

"Looks like it." Charming replied.

"Sorry to hear about your wife and daughter." Gold apologized. "If you're looking for a retrieval, I'm afraid portal-jumping is just outside my purview."

"Of course it is." Charming replied.

"Bullshit." Hickory muttered in a whisper as he stood guard by the door.

"So what's the commotion outside?" Gold continued,

"A little stir at the border. Can't cross the line."

"Do tell?"

"Actually, I'm here to buy something. A way to find someone."

"What, like a map?"

"Something with a bit more kick, like the ring you gave me to find Snow."

"Ah, magic." Charming smiled at the notion. "Whom are you following?"

"Not telling."

"So do you have something of theirs, this 'missing person?'"

"Yes."

"May I see it?"

The reply was abrupt. "No." Hickory chuckled in the corner. Gold laughed too, turning to the counter, grabbing a vial of light blue liquid.

"Pour this on the object, and then follow it. So simple, even _David Nolan_ could do it."

"What do you want?" Charming demanded.

"Peace. Leave me alone."

Charming smiled again, nodding in thought. "What do _you _care what David Nolan does?"

"No, no, it's _Charming _I worry about. I'd like a little… noninterference guarantee."

"Fine. _If_, you give me the same." He paused. "You and I, we stay out of each other's way."

Gold offered the bottle up. "Thank-you for your business."

Charming walked away, and Hickory started out.

"So what happens, when you try and cross the border?" Gold asked.

"You get riddled with bullets." Charming replied simply. "They've got us quarantined."

_Town Hall, Storybrooke, Maine, 10:45am_

Red was desperately trying to calm the crowds. "Everyone just please calm down! I'm sure he's going to be here any second!" Her grandmother walked by with a crossbow in hand. "Again with the crossbow, Granny?"

"Regina could be here any minute, Ruby! Of course I need it!"

Red sighed and ran up to Henry as he desperately tried to call his grandfather. "He's not picking up!"

"Keep trying!"

At that, Charming and the Sergeant Major burst through the doors, carrying another man through with them, followed by four more soldiers.

"I know," Charming began, "that we've been through a lot in the past few days. But we can pull through. We _will _pull through. We have with us the best Maine has to offer helping us to keep town safe. We have reason to believe we can get back to the Enchanted Forest now." At that, a hopeful murmur went through the crowd. "We shouldn't be afraid; we should have _hope_! We're going to get through this! These are good times!"

Then, Regina burst in through the doors, holding a fireball in the palm of her hands. Hickory took aim as she hurled the ball of flame right at him. He dove out of the way right after sending a .45 ACP her way. It hit her square in the shoulder, right where he had aimed for, and the queen collapsed to the ground unconscious as blood gushed from the wound.

"Fireball _that_." Hickory insulted as he blew a puff of smoke from the barrel. The whole room broke out cheering as Charming went down to take Regina to the clinic, and later to the soldiers waiting outside town.

_Shoreline, The Enchanted Forest, 11:00am_

Patton had been trying to think of a plan of escape for the past several hours while she, Emma and Snow were pulled along by two women on horseback. Trying the ropes was useless; they were good, and those two women didn't stop for any length of time for her to pick up something to work them. They were good; they had taken all of her weapons; she could see her rifle, service belt and all of her other equipment hanging off the side of the pack horse.

"What is this place?" Snow demanded as the two women surprisingly stopped. Patton quietly bent down to the ground, picking up a small shard of driftwood.

"Our home." One of the riders, and Asian woman, replied simply, riding on. But the damage had been done; Patton was already slowly cutting through the rope.

They were riding towards an island, connected to the mainland via a narrow causeway. There was a small town, with dozens of huts. It actually reminded the Staff Sergeant of some of the villages in Iraq she had fought in. To Snow, it was like a standard village in the Enchanted Forest. To Emma, it was what she had always pictured medieval Europe as looking like.

"It's like they're refugees." Emma noticed, looking around.

"We're _survivors_." The Asian woman snapped, dismounting her horse.

Snow kicked the other woman down, running and shouting "Emma! Run!"

Patton had sawn through the ropes, and walked stealthily over to the pack horse, throwing on her armor and equipment.

"Screw this." She muttered, just up and jacking the horse and all the valuably equipment on it. The majestic animal galloped away, after Emma. Looking back, their kidnappers had hit Snow with a _flail_. There wasn't any time to pick her up; they were advancing fast. Patton's body armor was the only thing that saved her from a direct arrow hit to her center mass; Emma was running back to get her.

"Mary Margaret! Mary Margaret!" Emma shouted as Patton's steed thundered by. "What did you do?"

"Take them to the pit." The Asian woman ordered as they surrounded them.

Training had prepared Patton for this; it was called SERE. Survival, evasion, resistance and escape. She hadn't quite escaped yet, and was definitely still close enough to be captured again, so she was skipping to the "resistance" phase pretty quickly, but her allies needed her.

"_HOOOOAAAAAAH!_" she shouted, riding in fast, gun blazing in short, three-round bursts. She rammed right between their captors and Emma and Snow. Apparently, the locals were _terrified_ of the invisible death that had hit them from this warrior, and started fleeing. Two archers on a rooftop started shooting at her, but she tossed up a grenade before they could hit her. The explosion unintentionally pulverized the building they were in; she had no idea of knowing how weak or strong the construction was (it was incredibly weak.)

Yet, she couldn't keep up that kind of offensive. Her standard days' ammo only consisted of four-hundred bullets, although Hickory had insisted she carry more mags on her when dealing with Regina, so she had more like a thousand on her, a dozen or so grenades plus a single Carl Gustav recoilless rifle with three four shells in her backpack, and she knew from experience that ammo gets used up _very _quickly in combat. On the other hand, there was a sword and a bow on the horse, too, with a full sheath of arrows. How hard could it be to learn to use that?

Well, there would be a time to worry about that, probably sooner than she would like. Until then, she had a rescue mission to plan…


	6. Chapter 6

_Town Border, Storybrooke, Maine, 11:15am_

"Sir, we're gonna need you to turn back to town." The sergeant instructed.

"You know who you're talking to, don't you son?" Sergeant Major Hickory inquired, his boots right up against the orange line that had been spray-painted to mark the border. In his left hand was a charred top hat, in his left was a rope that was in turn tied to another man.

"At ease, soldier." A gruff old voice announced, walking up and laughing as he recognized the Sergeant Major. "Hickory, is that you? You son of a bitch!"

"Baldy? Is that _you_?" Hickory laughed back, walking up to his old, needless to say _bald _friend. "They put _you _in charge here? Did Campbell bite the dust?"

"Aw, come on man." He sighed. "What a shitstorm this is, huh?"

"Bah, I've got it under control."

"So whatcha got there with ya'?"

Hickory got in closer, whispering to him. "One of my soldiers, a staff sergeant, she was observing this whole thing for me when she got knocked down into some portal or whatnot by…"

"By that dementor of yours?" Baldy joked. Hickory had forgotten Baldy was an avid fan of _Harry Potter_.

"Yeah. It gave our Apache one hell of a time, though. It got sucked down into that portal though, so they're a bit disappointed." He thought for a moment. "Anyways, I've got quite a few things with me here."

"Hey!" his prisoner protested. "One of those 'things' is a person!"

"Who's this?" Baldy inquired.

"The guy who owns this hat." Hickory held up the charred remains.

"Well, besides being dapper, what's so special about the hat?"

"This hat opened up the portal that took Staff Sergeant Acadia." He handed it to Baldy. "Take it back to the eggheads; tell 'em to patch it up so this dick," he elbowed his prisoner in the stomach, "can get it to work again."

"I'll get it back to ya' ASAP, Hickory." He set the hat down on a Bradley. "Anything else?"

"Yeah; I'm gonna need a medic crew in here."

"Oh? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong; I just gotta keep that fireball bitch from dying before we can question her."

"What do you think of it all?"

"I saw her throw a fireball; she's a threat. And if my spy is to be believed, what she did back in her dimension makes Kim Jong-un look like a goddamn kitten."

"Christ, and you _don't _want her to die?"

"Don't twist my words, Baldy. I don't want her to die _yet_."

"I'll see what I can do about the hat, Hickory. You should get back to town, though. Remember how fast things went to hell in Kabul without a leader?"

"I'll see you soon." Hickory laughed, walking back.

_The Safe Haven, Enchanted Forest, 12:00pm_

Pattonwas lying prone, right on the outskirts of the forest with a pair of binoculars, watching, and waiting. She didn't want to waste any ammunition on another attack; she'd run out if she kept up an open assault like that, although she didn't think that would be a problem for _too _long. Hickory knew she was there, and if the eggheads could drop a car on Mars, they could extract her from some other dimension. Besides these reasons not to attack, something was happening.

Emma and Snow were being led to what appeared to be some administrative building, judging from its height and sturdier construction. A tall black man exited the building, wearing plate armor and carrying a sword. Snow seemed to recognize him, judging from the look on her face. What really drove the nail in was that she ran up and hugged him. _He wasn't a target_ Patton thought to herself.

Her attention turned to the two women who had kidnapped them in the first place, the Asian woman and the other one with auburn hair. They were having their own conversation, one much different tempered than Snow and the knight. The auburn seemed angry, judging from her facial expressions, while the Asian was talking to her with what seemed to be a warning of some sort. _They're still suspicious_ she thought to herself. The Asian woman walked off, and Patton unchecked her from her growing list of enemies. But the other one, she turned around, thinking nobody could see, and the Staff Sergeant watched as she drew a dagger, looking at it contemplating.

"Hmm. Suspicious." Patton muttered while the natives invited Emma and Snow to sit down. Seemed innocent enough, but better not take any chances. She withdrew a new toy her unit had just been outfitted with two months before this all happened; it was a remote control car called a Dragon Runner. Nine pounds, fifteen inches long, five inches high and with a camera and microphone sensors, the machine was designed for spying in an urban environment. She could throw it out of a three story building and it would still drive.

The little car sped forward, covered in a thin layer of grass Patton had camouflaged it with, and parked in the clearing right where the town began, switching it from drive to sentry. A little microphone on its front end then listened in on the whole conversation. Apparently, they were eating something called "chimera."

"I don't understand." Snow began. "We were told this land didn't exist anymore; how did you all escape the curse?"

"It is a mystery. The curse struck, and when the smoke cleared, most of us had been torn from this land. But some of us here, in this particular region, were left behind. We don't know how and we don't know why."

_Like that new TV show_ Patton thought. _Only in fairytale land…_

The knight continued. "Finding this safe haven wasn't easy. It took some spilt blood. But worry not. You're safe here."

"We can't stay," Snow protested, "My husband's back there, Emma's son- my _grandson_- we have to get back to them. Can you help us find a portal?"

_Thanks for remembering me_ Patton thought to herself. If there was anyone on _their _side trying to get in, it was either "for science" or they were trying to get her back.

"Leaving is unwise." The knight warned. "The Enchanted Forest is _not _as you remember it. The ogres have returned."

Patton had a bit of a double-take and had to playback that last sentence to make sure she heard it right. Ogres? Like, _Shrek_?

"Ogres?" Apparently Emma had the same reaction. "Like as in fee-fi-fo-fum?"

"That'd be giants." Snow informed.

_Christ, this place has everything._

"Ogres," the knight went on, "are far worse. That's why we live here, on this island where it's safe. Please Snow, stay here; there are no more portals left."

_Ha! Army Research Lab is working on that._

"I might know of one." Snow replied, thinking.

"You do?"

"Where?"

"Cora's near. I don't feel comfortable voicing my plans; she's powerful."

_Okay, so I'll have to add 'Cora' to my hit-list._

"Not anymore," the knight reassured, "the curse stripped her of her powers. But, given her reputation, we've kept her locked up as a precaution."

"Nevertheless," Snow retorted, "I'm not taking chances. Just trust me, I may have a way. Let us go."

"I'll allow it, but on one condition... take my bravest warrior with you. Allow Mulan to defend you."

_Man, I LOVED that movie! _Patton thought, recalling her childhood memories before being sucked back into reality. She had left her stolen horse- and with it all of her equipment- in a clearing on the mainland, but with no real defense around it. She had to go set up a perimeter; especially since they were starting to go to the mainland too. Still, there was just one more thing left to do with the Dragon Runner.

"Choose wisely," Mulan began, opening up a big crate of weaponry, "we must be vigilant if we hope to survive the journey."

Emma took a dagger, asking "Where's my gun? I want it back?"

Mulan had had enough sense to keep that particular weapon on her person, and Patton didn't get it in her little heist. She held it, turning it in her hands as she examined it.

"Is it magic?" she asked with the curiosity of a child.

"Depends on who's pulling the trigger." Emma joked back, taking it from her.

_Damn right, officer_ Patton thought as she yanked the reverse stick back on the little vehicle and retrieving it in short order, jogging back down the causeway before the trio caught up to her.

_Field Hospital, Sector 1 (Main Street), Storybrooke, Maine, 1:00pm_

Regina awoke with a start to the sound of stomping boots and helicopters.

"W-What happened?" she demanded, sitting up. She was in a tank-top, with a big gauze pad covering her right shoulder. She was in a tent; albeit a huge one. An IV drip was going into her arm, and she was handcuffed to the cot. Two soldiers stood as still as monuments on either side of her cot, silent sentinels, watching her every move just in case.

"I shot you." The Sergeant Major replied very simply, walking in.

"Why?" Regina demanded.

"You were gonna kill a bunch of innocent people; and my men."

"Where am I?"

"The field hospital."

"Why are you keeping me alive? Why don't you just kill me?"

"As much as I want to shoot you in the face with a howitzer right now, we're still a democracy and you're gonna get a fair trial."

"What did I do? You have nothing to charge me with?"

Hickory smiled, pacing before her. "Really? Where to begin? Arson, at the very least, and if your David Nolan is to be believed, _genocide_."

Regina smiled viciously. "I almost forgot how _precious _life is to you hypocrites. You bomb thousands of people in other countries, but when you catch someone from the _other _side killing, you're all up in arms!"

"We _don't_ kill innocent people; and we _don't_ attack unprovoked." Hickory responded with a steely tone that put even Regina in her place.

"So how long until I get sent to Guantanamo Bay?" she quipped.

"Shut up." Hickory retorted, jabbing a needle into her forearm.

"Ouch!" the queen yelped while Hickory drew a blood sample. "What was that for?"

"For _science_." Hickory replied deadpan. He flicked another needle, jabbing it into her. "My job isn't to be a morality judge, but let me just say that if everything they say you've done is true, lethal injection is the _least _you deserve." He rose to his feet. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go talk to someone."

_Sheriff's Office, Storybrooke, Maine, 1:20pm_

"Having a nice stay?" Hickory asked as he walked in on his prisoner. He folded up a piece of paper and put it back in his jacket.

"Ah, here to see your prisoner, eh?"

"You don't have to _be _a prisoner if you work with us." Hickory replied, sitting down in an office chair. He rolled it up to the bars. "So, what's your name?"

"Jefferson."

"And where ya' from? Nevermind, don't answer that." Hickory knew it was true, but again there was a part of his brain that flat-out _refused _to accept it.

"Anything else?" Jefferson replied, exasperated.

"Hey look buddy, I'm only trying to help _you_. You're making it more difficult on yourself. So, what was the paper you were looking at when I came in."

Jefferson sighed, withdrawing the paper and handing it to the Sergeant Major. "She's my daughter."

"Ah; how old is she?"

"Nine."

"Is she with her mother?"

"Uh, yeah. We, uh, we're divorced."

"Oh, I see. My brother divorced too; I get how stressful that can be." He let that sit for a minute. "Listen, I need your help."

"Sir," Jefferson began in a very honest tone, "I can't help you. Magic's never been my _thing_, y'know? I don't know if Regina has something in that vault of hers that can help you; maybe try her."

"Vault? What vault?"

"It's in the cemetery. Here, I'll take you to it."


	7. Chapter 7

_The Enchanted Forest, 6:00pm_

Patton had been trailing Emma, Snow and Mulan for some time now, still a bit wary of them. When they stopped, she stopped a bit behind them, observing from the bushes. She was a far cry from Delta Force, but she might just have been the most lethal person in that whole forest at the moment. Most lethal _person_.

She was again listening in on their conversation with the Dragon Runner; they were setting up camp for the night.

"Uh, if we're hiding from ogres," Emma started, "shouldn't we maybe, I don't know, _not _start a fire?"

"Ogres are blind." Snow replied abruptly. "They hunt by sound alone."

_Should probably make a mental note of that_ Patton thought before just penning it to a tissue.

"Right," Emma replied sarcastically, "because that's something everyone would know about ogres."

"Look," Snow talked down, as if Emma were still a little girl, "I know you're out of your element."

"I'm fine!"

"I know, but maybe you should just stay here while we get wood and water; guard the campsite."

"You mean the big empty clearing?" That wasn't really the best place for a camp anyway; Patton would have gone for somewhere with more cover, or built a lean-to at least.

"It's the safest place; we'll be right back." Snow was exasperated as she and Mulan walked off. Once they were definitely out of earshot, Patton walked up.

"Holy shit! Where were you?" Emma demanded as the guardswoman walked up to her.

"Right on your heels. Let me cut to the chase, do you trust this Mulan chick?"

"I guess so; why?"

"When we first went into Afghanistan, we didn't know who to trust. The enemy blended with the civilians; so, is Mulan my friend or my enemy?"

"Snow seems to trust her, so…"

"Do _you_?"

Emma sighed. "I'd have to get to know her more first, y'know. See what type of person she is. How've you been holding up?"

"Meh, basic MREs are holding up; got enough ammo. I'm already sort of ready for this, what with SERE training and all. You?"

"It's all French to me; I was _born_ here, not raised."

Patton smiled. "Well, I'll be back in my bushes over there; if something happens I'll probably see it so don't give me away."

"See it? How?"

In response, she throttled the Dragon Runner forward.

"Oh, that's cheating!"

"Nobody ever said the National Guard plays fair, kid. Besides this, I've got my scope, binoculars and an InstantEye drone."

"_Drone_? Come on!"

"It's very small." She pinched her fingers together to show.

"Why were you so well equipped again?"

"Old Hickory wanted me to be geared for an 'outside context problem' with that Regina of yours. Now I'm glad he did."

"Yeah, she can be a real doozy, right?"

"I'll say."

_Adelphi Laboratory Center, Adelphi, Maryland, 6:30pm_

"Hokay, boys. Move Monopoly up onto the scanner _very _carefully." Davif Beckett ordered over the microphone, gazing in on the clean room his two scientists were working in from the other side of a bulletproof glass mirror.

"Monopoly? Really?" Emily Bronte asked, taking a fiber sample.

"C'mon man!" Greg Tanner protested. "You could have called it anything in the world! Sample Zulu-Kickass-Viper; and you went with _Monopoly_?"

"What? He had a hat just like this one! Whatever, put it on the scanner."

The top hat was scanned about a dozen different times, each taking snapshots, with all sorts of image enhancers. Infrared, radar, active sonar, laser, thermal, night vision, microwave, radio waves, x-rays, ultraviolet, color-enhanced, color-dimming, gamma rays- every single system imaginable, and then some classified ones, were used on this singed top hat.

"Alright, the results are in." Beckett announced as the images came onto his monitor screen. "Drumroll please."

"Just tell us!" Emily protested.

"Fine! Jeesh, you guys are such buzzkills!" He coughed loudly in anticipation, still getting his dramatic moment. "And the verdict is… it's a hat."

"Duh!"

"No, really, it's just a regular hat. A crappy, torn-up top hat."

"Weird. Are we _sure _our soldiers aren't the crazy ones?" Emily joked.

"Well, that one just up and disappeared down this thing, if their Sergeant Major is to be believed, so either a highly decorate war veteran went cuckoo-bananas and invented this whole thing or that poor guy really _did _fall down an interdimensional hole." Beckett thought on that for a moment. "Y'know, this is just weird. I think it's about time somebody told the President about this."

_Oval Office, White House, Washington D.C., 8:00pm_

"Madam President," Joint Chiefs Martin Dempsey began, pointing to a big map of Maine pinned to a whiteboard, "this one's a real doozy, so bear with me please."

President Janice Kay Brewer- who preferred to go by "Jan"- put on her glasses to gaze where her Joint Chiefs was pointing at. "Alright, go ahead Marty."

"Three days ago, the control tower at Bangor Air National Guard Base picked up a _massive _energy output that closely resembled an EMP- in fact, they interpreted it to _be _an EMP, and were prepared to lose power. However, on later inspection, we found that this energy output was _not_, in fact, an EMP, but something… just different. Alien. We had never quite encountered anything like it. Basically an EMP, but it didn't shut down electronics. The eggheads started calling it Imp."

"Oh, ha-ha, nice play on words there." Jan sarcastically clapped at the 'originality' of the scientists.

"Whatever it was, it spurred the base commanders to send up a patrol to the source to check it out; consisted of eight Humvees, a Bradley fighting vehicle and an Apache for air support. Furthermore, the USS _Thunder Child _was just offshore and notified to be on standby just in case something should go down. The source of Imp was a small town, population about five-hundred, called Storybrooke." He pointed to it on the map. "The force was led by Sergeant Major Basil Apricot. I believe you've heard of him?"

"I certainly have. Who could forget the hero of Tzipporah?"

"Fair enough. Well, anyways, they found nothing on the way in. Geiger counters were clear; no radiation. Electronics in town worked just fine. What was _really _weird was what happened when they got _into _town. Sergeant Major Apricot sent out one of his soldiers, a Staff Sergeant, in civilian attire to sit in on an emergency town meeting that had been called moments after they arrived."

"Civilian attire, eh? So, Iron Hickory started his own FBI, then?"

"It would appear more like the CIA, ma'am, because what happened next sounds like some bad crossover fanfiction on the internet: the Staff Sergeant, in no uncertain terms, heard a young woman tell her _very _seriously that she was Little Red Riding Hood."

"What?"

"Everyone else had that same reaction, ma'am. To top off that craziness, the _mayor _of the town, Regina Mills, kicked down the doors, panicking the residents. She then _threw two people across the room_ with some invisible force, and _hurled a fireball _around the hall."

"Seems a bit unlikely, Marty. Any hard evidence?"

"Well, ma'am, the Staff Sergeant has some singed hairs, and the town seal at the front of the hall was set alight when the fireball impacted it. It's remains were sent to the Army Research Lab in Adelphi to check it out. We are still awaiting results on that. However, there is another object from the town that we _have _checked out, and we found some interesting results.

"There was an attack by what the Sergeant Major described, short of any other words, a dementor."

"Like, _Harry Potter_?"

"Yes ma'am. Anyways, it swooped down upon the units, stationed just outside of the town itself, but still in the town proper. It injured two, killed one; tore up the town. The Apache engaged it in a dogfight; it had the upper hand the whole time and fired at least five-hundred rounds and two Hellfire missiles at it; visibly annoying it but with no other effect. They couldn't bring it _down_; at least not for good."

"Doesn't sound too good."

"Ah, I haven't got to the interesting part yet. Apparently, the Staff Sergeant was talking with the town sheriff and her parents- incidentally, the parents claimed to be _Snow White and Prince Charming_- to get rid of this thing before it could kill Mayor Mills."

"So, they _didn't _want to kill fireball lady? Why?"

"Put simply, ma'am, the Staff Sergeant probably thought that it would be better to _interrogate _her than just kill her."

"Probably? Did something happen?"

"Well, they seem to have opened a portal of some type; some sciencey crud that I only half understood; into another dimension; the dimension everyone in the town claimed to be from. Something _did _happen to the Staff Sergeant; as they were trying to force this monster down the portal, she got knocked in with it, along with the sheriff and her mother. The father was left behind because the portal abruptly shut closed on them."

"Sounds like the ending to a paranormal blog story."

"It certainly does, which is why Colonel Tyreese Albion, who was sent in after Governor LePage _quarantined _the town, gave all those left who were involved, from Iron Hickory himself to 'Prince Charming' to the Apache pilots. All came back negative. They were absolutely telling the truth."

"So, one of our Guardsmen is trapped in another dimension is what you're saying?"

"Not necessarily trapped, ma'am. They recovered the object used to create the portal; it was pretty beaten up, but ARL thinks they can patch it up to work again. It was a top hat; literally a dapper, top hat that wouldn't look out of place on Snidely Whiplash's head. And, pardon the pun, but to _top _that off, Hickory managed to get the guy who owned the hat and knows how to work it; he's trying to talk him into helping us out."

"Well, that's sure good news. What's the _bad _news?"

"ARL ran some tests on it, as it was found, and it registered just as one would expect it to; as a damn top hat."

"Hmm." Brewer pondered this for a moment. "You know, the public at large doesn't know this, but you are aware that the Resolute Desk was a gift from the British, correct? Queen Victoria sent it over in 1880."

"Yes, ma'am, I was aware of that."

"Did you know that Queen _Elizabeth_ II sent over another piece of the furniture set in 1946 as a gift for our help in the Second World War? It was a certain wardrobe with an… _interesting_ history, to say the very least. Might be worth investigating."

"Well, do tell, madam President."

_The Enchanted Forest, 9:00pm_

Snow was placing down some firewood in the clearing, just getting ready for the night. Patton saw her coming, through her scope from across the clearing, but she wanted to see where it went.

Their captor from earlier, the auburn one, came up from behind Snow like lightning, putting a dagger to her throat, saying something Patton couldn't hear from thirty yards out. She didn't need to _hear _anything though; her eyes were her guidance as she took aim with her M16. Before she could fire, Snow tackled the woman to the ground, pinning her down.

_Now's as good a time as any_ Patton thought, rising to her feet and jogging across the clearing to meet them.

"You listen to me princess! You think _I_ don't know what it's like, to be separated from the people that I love?"

"Hey!" Patton shouted, running up and pulling Snow off of the woman, grabbing her at her stomach and lifting her off. "Come on, get off her!"

"What happened to Philip was _not_ our fault!" Snow shouted, kicking against Patton. The guardswoman dropped her down a few feet away, safely out of punching range as this other princess pulled herself to her feet. "So I _suggest_ you find another way to channel you anger!"

"Alright, you've both had at each other and…" Just as Patton started, Mulan came up and sucker punched her in the face, pushing Snow back to the ground. "Oh, _hell _no!"

"Don't talk to her like that!" Mulan shouted, bearing down over Snow.

"Hey, she tried to _kill _me!" Snow protested, shoving Mulan off of her, almost reflexively gripping her dagger, but not drawing.

"I'll handle her!" Mulan replied, drawing her sword.

"Oh, and a hell of a fine job you're doing there Inigo!" Patton retorted.

"Hey, don't talk to her like…" Aurora started, but Patton just kicked her down.

"Shut up!" the guardswoman shouted, taking aim at Mulan with her M16.

A single, ear-shattering gunshot broke up the argument and any silence in the forest. All eyes went to Emma taking aim.

"Emma, what are you doing?" Snow whispered, half-panicked.

"Protecting you." Emma replied, advancing towards Mulan. "Drop the weapon!"

"Do you have _any _idea what you've done?!"

A low, terrifying growl echoed through the forest, as the wildlife kicked up a storm, running past them in a panic behind rustling and shaking trees.

"Ogres?"

"_RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNN!_" Snow shouted as all five took off sprinting. Patton and Mulan were in the lead, both being uber-fit for fighting, with Emma and Snow close behind, and the other woman in dead last, her long dress hampering _any _movement, let alone adrenaline-fueled flight. It brought back almost painful memories of Muslim women in Fallujah trying to flee from the constant firefights, getting slowed down to a trudge by their long robes and burqas.

Now, Patton was overwhelmed by this memory, and suddenly found herself not in the Enchanted Forest, but deep in wartorn Fallujah.

"Come with me, ma'am!" she shouted, running up to the now-burqa clad woman, helping her behind a mudbrick wall under a hail of AK fire. A steady stream of white hot lead returned fire at the hidden insurgents on the other end of the street, coming from the Bushmaster of an LAV-25. Two Marines on the other side of the street went behind the armoured vehicle, trying to reach cover, only to get gunned down from above. Patton looked up at the roof of a sooty apartment just in time to see an RPG streak downrange and detonate on the turret of the LAV. The armoured vehicle exploded all over, Patton ducking down to avoid the white hot debris.

"Son of a bitch!" Patton screamed, pulling the pin on an M67. "Frag out!" she shouted to anyone left alive.

"Al mout li Amreeka!" an insurgent shouted. "Al mout li Amree-ke up! Amreeka up! Wake up! _WAKE UP_!"

She came to and saw Emma and Mulan leaning over her, shaking her shoulders. She groaned, rubbing her head in pain. "W-What the hell happened?"

"You had some sort of flashback or something; started acting all crazy and shouting about insurgents down an alley."

She sat up, gazing at the corpse of what appeared to be a giant man. "What the _hell _is that?"

"Oh, that's the ogre you just massacred." Emma replied.

"You fired some sort of yellow arrows at it," Mulan replied, wide-eyed with awe. _Shock_ and awe. "Then you threw an exploding egg at it! You must come from a _very_ magical land."

Patton smiled as she rose to her feet. "Hah! You ain't seen nothing yet." She looked at the mangled corpse before them; its face was a smashed, bloody pulp. Apparently the grenade had hit it in the worst possible place to have an explosion go off- right on its damn head. The face was just _shattered_, bits of skull and brains were scattered everywhere, a giant pool of blood was around the head.

"Christ, where did I hit this thing?"

"The egg went in its mouth."

"It _ate my grenade_?"

Mulan's eyes lit up a bit; finally the woman had given her a clue to where those exploding orbs came from. "Grenade? What sort of bird is that to lay such eggs?"


	8. Chapter 8

_The Enchanted Forest, 10:00pm_

"We're getting close." Mulan announced as they walked through the forest. "Aurora, you've _gotta _keep up."

"Sorry, but I'm not exactly dressed for the woods!" she retorted, dragging along her dress. "It's cold out here!"

"Then maybe you should've listened to me and stayed back."

"Wait a minute." Snow raised her hand. "Shush!"

The bushes rustled to the left; Snow raised her bow and Mulan drew her sword. Another ogre? Some other creature?

No. Patton came forward, towing the cargo-laden horse she had stolen earlier by a rope.

"Did you miss me?" she asked, merging onto the path.

"God," Emma sighed in relief, "don't freaking do that!"

"We're here!" Mulan shouted.

"Is that it?" Emma asked.

"Yeah," Snow took a nostalgic breath, "that's our home."

"Holy…" Patton muttered. "You guys _live_ there?"

"Yeah, we used to." Snow sighed, starting down the path.

_The Nursery, Snow's Palace, 11:00pm_

The big, heavy doors clanked open as the five walked into the room. It was a nursery, albeit an extremely old, ruined one. Furniture and toys were scattered about; wreckage covered the floor.

"I recognize this from Henry's book!" Emma exclaimed, walking in.

"We'll stand watch at the gate." Mulan announced, walking off with Aurora in tow.

"I'm just gonna, y'know, go with them." Patton replied, following after them, leaving Snow and Emma all alone.

"I never thought I'd see this place again." Snow sighed, picking up a teddy bear and trying to clean it off. "This room. It was your nursery."

"I lived here?" Emma asked.

"You never even got to spend a night." She sighed, looking around in something between anguish and nostalgia. "This is the life I wanted you to have. I was going to teach you how to walk in here, how to talk, how to dress for your first ball. You never got to do any of it. We never got to be a family."

"We have a family," Emma retorted, "in Storybrooke. And right now, they need us to get back there. So, how do we get _this _to work." She gestured towards the tree trunk that was supposed to be the portal.

_Palace Gates, The Enchanted Forest, 11:05pm_

"So, where are you from?" Mulan asked, striking up conversation.

"Me?" Patton replied. "Bar Harbor, born and raised."

"Where is that?"

Patton smiled. "Sorry, forgot we're literally from different worlds. It's in a country called the United States. Small city, sort of like that village you guys were camped out at."

"What did you do, in your world?"

"I was a soldier. National Guard. In fact, technically I still am, I'm just here cause I fell into that portal."

"I am also a soldier; I was Prince Philip's guard. Now I look after Aurora."

"I didn't ask for you to." Aurora snapped back.

Mulan ignored her. "Did you fight?"

"Well, yeah."

"That egg you used to kill the ogre; where did you get it?"

"Egg?" Patton laughed, pulling one out of her pocket. "No, no. This here is an M67 fragmentation grenade. Finest grenade around. It's made in factories; birds don't lay them."

"You _make _those?"

"Oh, that's nothing. We make tanks, jets, helicopters."

"Wait, what are those things?" This soldier was talking so fast, Mulan couldn't keep up.

Patton had seen _Army of Darkness _once when she was sixteen, and was _dying _to shout "boomstick," but refrained. "Well, a tank is, hmm, it's like a really big chariot, with treads instead of wheels; and it's basically invincible. Can charge through buildings, blow up things _miles _away. Hmm, you ever seen an elephant?"

"Yes!" Mulan replied, happy at a reference she understood. "In the southern kingdoms they are used in war."

"It's like that, only with a big cannon on it."

"And what are 'aircraft?'"

"Oh, they're flying machines, with guns and missiles on them."

"Flying machine? Ha!" Mulan replied, laughing at the notion.

"No, seriously. I have one right here!" She fished out the InstantEye drone from her backpack and launched it skyward, to the almost childlike awe of the two women.

"Wow!" Aurora exclaimed as Patton hovered it just ahead of her eyelevel. She reached out with her finger and touched it.

"No, no!" Patton shouted as Aurora's curious finger went towards the blades. "Don't touch that part! It's spinning really fast; it'll cut your finger."

"Like a knife?" Mulan asked.

"Sort of, only it provides enough lift to make this thing fly like a bird."

"What land are you from?"

"Didn't we go over this? The United States."

"_Where _is the United States?"

"Uh, how do I word this; hmm, _not _here?"

"Like, across the sea?" Aurora inquired.

"Not quite; think _farther_. Like, on another planet?"

"You're crazy." Mulan laughed.

"Hold on a second." Patton hushed, looking down at the video feed. "There's someone in there with them."

"Who?"

In an instant, she zoomed in enough to make out the figure. "It's that knight, the one on the island."

"Lancelot?"

"Is he tall and African American?"

"Afri-what?" Aurora demanded.

Patton sighed. "Black. Tall and black?"

"Yes."

"Well, he's in there, and we missed him entirely."

"Come on!" Mulan shouted, drawing her sword and racing back inside, followed by Aurora. Patton took a moment to switch the safety off on her rifle, and then charged in after them.

_The Nursery, Snow White's Palace, 11:30pm_

"That is _not _Lancelot!" Mulan shouted, coming in to find an imposing woman in a glittery dress standing at swordpoint courtesy of Snow.

"Who the hell is that?" Patton demanded.

"_Cora_." Emma scoffed.

"Where's Lancelot?" Snow demanded.

"He's dead. I killed him a _long _time ago."

"And you've been posing as him ever since?"

"Well they'd never listen to _me_. And besides, every kingdom _needs _a hero, don't you think?"

Snow went to attack her, but this Cora shot a purple-tinged cloud of… something at Snow, pinning her to the wall. Emma ran for her, but Cora tossed her aside, again, by an invisible force Patton _refused _to admit was magic.

Well, it even if it turned out it _was _magic, she was pretty sure it wasn't a match for 5.56 NATO, and opened up on Cora. Five round burst, shot off in a moment. The bullets flew towards Cora, faster than the sound barrier and then some. Well, Cora shoved her hand back at Patton's direction, and those bullets just pinged off of some invisible shield, leaving a purple ripple as they hit. Seemingly for good measure, Cora then swept Patton, Mulan and Aurora all off their feet and to the floor.

"Thank you, Snow." Cora taunted as Snow was slowly strangled by the magical force pinning her to the wall. "I've been looking for a way over for _so _long."

Emma rushed to her feet, but with another simple hand gesture, Cora animated a carpet and tripped her on it.

"I _never _thought the person to help me find it would be _you_!"

"Why are you doing this?" Snow choked out.

"Oh, I want to see my daughter. It's been _so _long. And you know, I would love to meet my grandson Henry."

"No you won't!" Emma shouted, setting the wardrobe on fire.

"_NO!_" Cora raged, lifting up the fire and hurling it at Emma. Well, Mulan rose to her feet just in time to parry it with her sword.

"We're not done!" Cora insisted, smiling before disappearing in a puff of purple haze.

"You okay?" Emma asked, walking up to her mother.

"Yeah."

"So, where is she?"

"Gone."

"So's our ride home." The wardrobe was ablaze.

"What the _hell_?" Patton demanded. "She's going to _Earth_? To _America_?"

"She sure sounded like she wanted to." Emma replied, still looking at the inferno.

"Don't worry!" Snow insisted. "We'll stop her. And even if she _did _get to Earth, she probably wouldn't want to try and hurt anyone that isn't already from her, okay?"

"No! Not 'okay'! My _job_ is to protect Americans, Snow; you can be damned sure I'm gonna worry." Patton fumed, storming out.

"She's right." Mulan added. "I might not have allegiances to this 'America', but I _do _have a duty to defend and protect what's left of the kingdom, and as long as Cora is out there, our people are in danger."

"Who's gonna lead us? You?" Aurora asked.

"No. _Her_." She looked back at Snow.

"I'm honored, but Emma and I still have to find a way back to Storybrooke."

"We'll help you. We'll find a way, won't we?"

"Yes." Aurora agreed. "Perhaps it'll help me channel my anger." Those two walked out, leaving Emma and Snow to talk for a few minutes. The lesson of that conversation was clear: Emma had forgiven her mother.

_The Nursery, Snow's Palace, 11:45pm_

Cora reappeared in the ruins of the nursery just moments after Snow and Emma left the premises, alone to think and plan her next move. Well, she obviously wanted to get to the other world, to "visit" her daughter, and her grandson, and all the _wonderful _people Regina had taken from the forest.

And yet, following the small team for a while, just observing and listening, she became intensely interested in the tales of the other blonde woman, the one wearing the green vest with the weird crossbow. It was no match for her immense magic, obviously, but the _stories _she had told Mulan and Aurora as they walked on were very, very interesting.

This soldier, Paxton? Patton? Well, she told intriguing stories of her homeland, a mighty empire in this other land, the "United States." It was _rich_, filthy rich, with a mighty army and incredible technology. Nothing like magic, but not as far behind as she would have liked in some aspects. Tales of invincible chariots and metal birds were especially interesting. Why, this country would probably be a _wonderful_ place to rule, especially if the soldier's stories concerning its cities of crystal and steel were to be believed.

She was quite a talker, too; Cora couldn't help but wonder if she would have talked so much had she known she was being watched. She threw around appalling concepts like "liberty" and "freedom" and "justice" and "equality." What rubbish! Well, she would take that out of those people, cleanse them of those poisonous ideas.

None of that would happen, though, if she couldn't get a portal, which is why she scooped up some ash from the wardrobe, and grinned demonically as it glowed with leftover magic.

_The Cemetery, Storybrooke, Maine, 8:00am_

"So, this is it?" Hickory asked, following the still-cuffed Jefferson to a small mausoleum.

"Yup." Jefferson replied. "This is Henry Mills' crypt. Let's go in."

They opened the old oaken doors, and saw what one would expect to find in such a crypt: a big stone coffin, with white flowers spread over top of it. A plaque on it read 'Henry Mills, Beloved Father.'

"Doesn't seem to special, does it?" Jefferson inquired sarcastically.

"You know," Hickory replied, walking slowly around the coffin, inspecting it, "in Iraq, we had to deal with a lot of insurgent hidey-holes in houses and shops." He bent down on the right side of the coffin and put his index finger on the ground, finding a chalky substance on it beside smear lines.

"What are you doing?" Jefferson asked as Hickory began shoving the coffin to the right. Under it turned out to be a big staircase leading down.

"First thing we learned: _always _check for hidden passages." He looked down, gesturing Jefferson forward. "Ladies first."

"Whoa." Jefferson muttered, taking it all in. On the wall opposite the staircase there was a big cabinet resembling a golden safe-deposit, and an odd sound was coming from it. _Da-dum, da-dum, da-dum_. Almost like the rhythmic throb of a heartbeat. "Holy God."

"Eggheads are gonna have a field day down here." Hickory muttered, looking to his left to see another room. Dozens of little alcoves were carved into the wall, each one housing an object.

"What are those?"

"You're asking the wrong guy."

"Jeesh, I knew she had this place but I always thought more 'root cellar' than 'NORAD-Giza complex.'"

"I'm gonna call up Augusta, you stay put."

"Why Augusta?"

"So they can send me somebody that understands this shit." He pulled out his walkie-talkie, going towards the stairs for better reception. "Command, this is Duke, requesting research crew ASAP."

"Duke, please repeat."

"I say again, this is Duke, requesting a research crew ASAP."

"Copy that. Science team inbound ETA one-two-zero minutes."

"Roger that, over and out." He turned back towards Jefferson.

"So what now?"

"They're gonna take everything in this place apart and then put it back together again."


End file.
